Do you know where this is?

The GM transit bus in the foreground provides an obvious time reference for readers trying to figure out where this picture was taken.

This particular bus model, which many thought looked like a loaf of bread, transported millions of commuters in urban areas all across America through the 1950s.

Municipal officials purchased thousands of these buses because of their dependability. Even the Soviet Union, which faced major transportation headaches after World War II, bought a slew of the “workhorses” under a special contract approved by the U.S. government.

Back when this photo was taken there was no Worcester Regional Transit Authority and the yellow-on-green buses that navigated city streets were operated by the Fox Bus Co.

The picture also contains a partial view of Costello’s, which, at the time, was a big tire distributor in Worcester.

The A.B.F. Kinney Co. took up a big chunk of the two-and-a-half-story wood structure next door.

At the time, Kinney’s claimed to be “the oldest loan office in Worcester.”

Kinney’s was a pawn shop with roots dating back to 1901, and it moved to this location in 1921.

According to one newsroom old-timer, some smaller businesses were nestled about the pawn shop, including a bookstore and a toy store.

To the east of Kinney’s sat the New City Hotel. Readers can catch a glimpse of it in the top left corner of the picture.

The New City Hotel was constructed in 1889 and was one of Worcester’s prominent lodging places at the turn of the century.

This block was razed to make way for one of the biggest projects in the city’s history.

We’ll tell you where this photograph was taken in tomorrow’s Telegram & Gazette and online at www.telegram.com.

— Bronislaus B. Kush

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